A number of games have been developed which involve the interaction between a game board and projectile game pieces, including darts. Several of these have been football dart board games.
U.S. Design Pat. No. 200,418 shows a football dart board game with a plurality of offensive and defensive players, the players diminishing in size as the players move up the playing field.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,681,325 discloses a football dart game with offensive and defensive targets of varying sizes.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,979,117, 4,893,822, and 5,005,842 each disclose dart games which simulate a football game.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,697,073 discloses a golf dart game with provisions for two positions from which players throw the darts.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,227,382 discloses a football dart game having smaller target areas in the end zone.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,183,530 discloses a football dart game with provisions for defensive and offensive play.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,150,823 discloses a football dart game with paired offensive and defensive players.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,005,841 discloses a game board for receiving magnetic pieces.
It should be noted that in all existing dart related games, except for U.S. Pat. No. 3,979,073, that only one throwing position is selected. This position is generally denoted as a single mark on the floor at a predetermined distance from the hanging game board.
The traditional darts presently being used all have a sharp pointed tip. It is this tip that penetrates the target area and determines the exact positioning of the projectile in relation to the graphic design on the game board. Although effective, the pointed metal tip has the following drawbacks. (1) The pointed metal tip is designed to puncture all surfaces it comes in contact with, making these types of projectiles dangerous and unsuitable for some people and in some situation. (2) Damage to walls and floors is common due to darts missing the board or bouncing off the target area. (3) Repeated throws to any section of the game board eventually results in deterioration of the graphics on the surface and the physical structure of the game board.
To make the sport safer, darts were designed with suction cups and Velcro.RTM. hook and loop fastener pads to replace the metal tipped darts. Although safety improved, the following deficiencies arose. (1) The size of the surface area at the tip of the dart was significantly increased, reducing the precision in accuracy compared to a metal pointed dart. (2) The ability of the Velcro.RTM. fastener material and suction cup darts to adhere was not equal to that of the traditional dart. (3) The size of tip required for Velcro.RTM. fastener material and suction cup tipped darts reduced the aerodynamics of these darts.
Safety tipped darts replaced the metal tipped section of the traditional darts with a rounded plastic tip. This new type of dart reduced the darts ability to puncture surfaces. The safety tipped darts necessitated that a new type of target area be designed and constructed. (1) The new design required that an expensive injected mold be created. (2) The new target area is composed of a multitude of inverted funnel like recesses which channel the projectile to a predetermined position on the game board. Due to construction of the board, the graphics are not continuous (riddled with holes).
In all existing dart related games, the application of the graphics can only be applied at the production stage, limiting the unique flexibility of changing the graphics to create multiple uses for this product. Furthermore, the quality of graphics are subject to the material available.